22.10.05

"A song is lucky if Shirley Horn chooses to sing it" was once said about this grand lady of jazz singing. A Washington native and Howard University graduate, she has performed countless times in D.C. How I have missed all these opportunities, I do not know. Sadly, I shall never get to hear her live - Ms. Horne passed away last night.

Shirley Horn has performed with every big name in jazz and leaves a legacy of her art on Verve records. Her art was such that it transcended categories. Another Washington native, Duke Ellington, once said about music: "If it sounds good, it is good." Shirley Horn, who just earlier this year won the The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships, did sound good!